Art 370 & Plight of Kashmiri Hindus @ House of Commons, Mar '11

Article 370 The plight of Kashmiri Hindus Shantanu Bhagwat 30 th March 2011 http://Satyameva-Jayate.org/

Article 370 The genesis and implications

The “birth” of Article 370
Article 370 was born out of a “Schedule” annexed to the Instrument of Accession
Note that the Instrument of Accession was identical to those signed by other rulers
The “Schedule” provided that the Dominion of India would be empowered to make laws for J&K only on matters pertaining to defence, external affairs and communications
Source: Arvind Lavakare, “The indeterminate life of Article 370”, 29 May 2002

Although all other princely states signed the same Instrument of Accession, “ none chose to live by it ”
In fact by Nov ‘49, all the states – with the exception of J&K – had issued Proclamations making the Constitution of India operative in their states
For J&K though, “ in view of the special problem ” (armed incursions; enemy combatants; restive population) a special provision was made
Source: Arvind Lavakare, “The Truth about Article 370”, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini 2005

The article (draft) was widely opposed even at the time of its formulation
Within the Congress party as well as by the Chairman of the Constituent Drafting Committee, Dr B R Ambedkar
Fears were raised by Cabinet Ministers and senior political leaders that such a move would lead to a Balkanization of India…
… and calls for “independence” at a later date
Source: Arvind Lavakare, “The Truth about Article 370”, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini 2005

Notably, this measure was meant to be temporary
In fact right from the tim e it was drafted, it has been labelled as “Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”
It is important to bear this in mind since there is an impression that the provisions under this Article are “special provisions” and therefore “permanent”.
The “birth” of Article 370 Source: Arvind Lavakare, “The Truth about Article 370”, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini 2005

Article 370
Unfortunately, unlike other “temporary” measures – which were time-bound – this “temporary” measure got cemented over the years…
Even though the accession is no longer in dispute and the self-determination has been thorough and complete
And the integration of the state into India has been formalised in the Preamble to the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir
A Constitution unanimously* approved by the Constituent Assembly elected directly by the citizens of the state in ‘51

Article 370
We believe this provision, this artificial creation of a feeling of “separateness”, this vestigial appendage, this “Article of Separateness” is one of the biggest roadblocks to enduring peace in Jammu & Kashmir

Article 370
It prevents Indian Parliament from applying any laws to the State with the exception of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications
It bars Indian citizens from settling down in the State and buying property
It provides for a separate citizenship to the residents of the State
It prevents the President of India from declaring and enforcing a financial emergency in the State

Article 370
As a consequence of Article 370, some important laws of India are not in force in J&K. These include
the Indian Penal Code
the Prevention of Corruption Act
the Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act
It also prevents amendments to the Indian Constitution from being applicable to J&K
Thus, the Constitution of J&K does not contain the words “secular” and “socialist” in the preamble

Article 370
Much like Britain’s failed experiment with “multi-culturalism”, it is time to abandon this “Article of Separateness”
Instead of integrating the community and the population it has further alienated them
This feeling of alienation has been aggravated by
poor political leadership and
long-standing and continuing support from a hostile neighbour to an armed, low-intensity conflict in J&K

Kashmiri Hindus The abandoned, the forgotten

The Beginning
1987: Complaints from political parties that elections have been rigged
One of the candidates who was put in jail following the elections was Mohammed Yusuf Shah aka Syed Salahuddin, head of Hizb-il Mujahideen
One of his polling agents was Yasin Malik
1989: Beginning of terrorist movement, armed, funded and supported by Pakistan
Source: BBC report on “Kashmir Insurgency”, Timeline 1989

The Beginning
1990s: Formation of radical Islamic terrorist groups
The movement for “Azaadi” acquires overt and unambiguous Islamic overtones
Partly driven by the arrival in the valley of Kashmir of large numbers of Islamic "Jihadi" fighters who had fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union in the 1980s
..and support by Pakistan’s newly elected PM, Benazir Bhutto
Source: BBC report on “Kashmir Insurgency”, Timeline 1989

The Beginning
Late 1989
Reports of targeted killings of Kashmiri Hindus start coming in with increasing frequency
Several prominent community leaders are murdered, amongst them Tak Lal Taploo and Neel Kanth Ganjoo
Kashmiri Pandits receive threatening letters asking them to quit the Valley
Mass attacks against Pandits are reported
“ On December 15 in 1989, men, children and old women from the minority community were mercilessly attacked and womenfolk molested in Shopian in Pulwama district in South Kashmir”
Source: Ch 4, “Kashmiri Pandits: An endangered community”, Kashmir News Network

The Exodus
Srinagar, January 4, 1990
“ Aftab”, a local Urdu newspaper, publishes a “press release” issued by Hizb-ul Mujahideen..
… asking all Hindus to pack up and leave
This is repeated in another newspaper, Al Safa
Source: Kanchan Gupta’s report in The Pioneer, “To forget would be to forgive”, 24 th January 2010

The Exodus
“ Reports of killing of Kashmiri Pandits begin to trickle in; there are explosions..
Inflammatory speeches are made from the pulpits of mosques, using public address systems meant for calling the faithful to prayers”
Source: Kanchan Gupta’s report in The Pioneer, “To forget would be to forgive”, 24 th January 2010

Srinagar, January 19, 1990
Curfew is imposed ..but it fails to have a deterrent effect.
“ Throughout the day, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and Hizb-ul Mujahideen terrorists use public address systems at mosques to exhort people to defy curfew and take to the streets…”
The Exodus Source: Kanchan Gupta’s report in The Pioneer, “To forget would be to forgive”, 24 th January 2010

“ Three taped slogans are repeatedly played the whole night from mosques:
Kashmir mei agar rehna hai, Allah-ho-Akbar kehna hai
If you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-ho-Akbar
Yahan kya chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa
What do we want here? Rule of Sharia’h
Asi gachchi Pakistan, Batao roas te Batanev san
We want Pakistan along with Hindu women but without their men

“ As the night of January 19, 1990, wears itself out, despondency gives way to desperation.
And tens of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits across the Valley take a painful decision: To flee their homeland to save their lives. Thus takes place a 20th century Exodus.”

The Exodus
“ Hardly anyone in Kashmir slept on the night of January 21. The sound of commotion and hysterical screaming spewed out of hundreds of mosques.
Anti-India slogans rant the air coupled with Allah-o-Akbar and Nizam-e-Mustafa. The noise hammered incessantly on the eardrums.”
Source: Khem Lata Wakhlu quoted in Ch 4, “Kashmiri Pandits: An endangered community”, Kashmir News Network

The Exodus
Over the next several weeks and months, Pandits begin to flee from the Valley
By the end of it, hundreds of thousands of families had been displaced
An entire community was uprooted from its ancestral land
Sadly this tragic tale rarely finds a mention in public memory

The abandoned…
In the ghettos that house the unflagging Pandits, called migrants by everybody else, life is mostly two steps…
… two steps to empty bowels,
two steps to food,
two steps to the gods on the walls,
two steps to the television and
two steps to the wife.
Source: Vijay Simha’s report in Tehelka, “In Exile At Home”, Nov 29, 2008

…and the forgotten For most of the day, Anita Pandit sits outside her tenement.. to offer privacy to her sons and daughters-in-law. Like her, many elders watch the world go by… Photographs by Uzma Mohsin, courtesy Tehelka; Copyright Tehelka

…and the forgotten Babita watches as a neighbour cooks rotis. All activity in the tenements is at arm’s length: cooking, sleeping, watching television, or praying Photographs by Uzma Mohsin, courtesy Tehelka; Copyright Tehelka

…and the forgotten Two daughters, Goldy and Ruchi, share the tenement with their parents and their grandparents. Their sense of space and privacy has been conditioned so since birth Photographs by Uzma Mohsin, courtesy Tehelka; Copyright Tehelka

Last week a team from Amnesty International visited Srinagar to look into allegations of human rights violations
I don’t know how many such teams have ever visited the camps of Kashmiri refugees - ever
… and I don’t how many reports have been written on their plight by these groups
…and the forgotten

The Misery More than 5000 persons have died in camps and elsewhere after their forced exodus from the valley. Sunstrokes alone have killed 1000 And then there are heart attacks, accidents mainly attributed to extreme mental & psychological trauma etc Source: Kashmir News Network

In the meantime…
An entire generation in Kashmir has grown up not knowing what happened
“ There are youngsters who do not know what Kashmiri Pandits were like, what their habits were; they have seen empty temples, they don't know what was recited in the temples, for them the Pandits are aliens, ”
Dr Farooq Abdullah, ex Chief Minister, J&K

Questions, Comments? Jai Hind, Jai Bharat! Shantanu @ Satyameva-Jayate.org

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Art 370 & Plight of Kashmiri Hindus @ House of Commons, Mar '11

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Art 370 & Plight of Kashmiri Hindus @ House of Commons, Mar ’11 — Presentation Transcript